Chris Wells Family News: Chris Wells Family Newsletter December 2015

Dear Family and Friends, December 2015

Merry Christmas everyone! We are glad to have you as friends and family and hope you are enjoying the season. This year has been a very eventful one. We got a new puppy, A King Charles Cavalier which we named Ruby, went to Colorado for Easter, boys traveled to the UP in Michigan for High Adventure and camped at the Pictured Rocks, moved to Colorado August 1^st, sold our house October 15^th, went to Utah for Thanksgiving, and will travel to Santa Fe, NM for a couple of days for a special Christmas concert Chris’s siblings are performing in.

Chris is still working for Jackson but has moved to the Denver, CO office. There is a possibility for a change in departments, we are just waiting for the final word and he will have a new title and more responsibility. SO excited for the change. He continues to try and make the commute worthwhile with books on cd, radio and music, but the scenery is beautiful! The biggest thing that happened this year for him was in February he was in Denver on a business trip, eating lunch with a coworker, and had a grand mal seizure and ended up in the emergency room of the hospital. A month later he had one more and then a few days later had another grand mal. At that point he went on medication. After much testing (months and months) he found out there is a sign of something in his brain that will cause him to have seizures. Medication has been working completely, but it was a pretty rough 6 months since he wasn’t able to drive for that long. He continues with his hobbies of hiking and outdoor astronomy. He also

started up his fish tank again and we love it!!

We moved into a great ward in Monument, CO and both received callings in the first month. Chris is AGAIN primary pianist. He was so thrilled!! And I accepted a call as choir pianist. Biggest month of the year for choir so stress is at a high! Especially since this week is also finals week for the kids. The church ward family has been very welcoming and the kids are comfortable here. We are feeling more comfortable each week, but they do miss their friends back in Michigan. Thank heavens for technology so that they can keep in touch so frequently.

Karen has transitioned into Colorado living very well. She started teacher piano again and has 11 piano students and room for a few more! J She keeps busy with her Etsy business and piano students as well as driving kids to after school activities. Our puppy is very busy and keeps us on our toes. Loves playdates with her cousin. Chris’s brothers dog, Jules. They love to play!

Jonathan turned 18 this year and graduated from high school this year with very good scores. He was accepted to BYU-Idaho where he has been attending this semester. He has lived on his own for the first time and seemed to do ok with it. He wants to study Chemical Engineering and hoping after two years to transfer to BYU-Provo to get into their program. We shall see how it all goes. He is on a Fall/Spring Track so will be home from January to midApril. For Christmas Break we drive to pick him up Friday the 18th in Utah at my brother’s house. He is picking him up on Thursday and bringing him down to Utah to save us some time on driving. Praying for good weather to get back Saturday night.

Mikael loved going to the Pictured Rocks in the UP of Michigan for High Adventure this year. Beautiful scenery!! He also got his permit and has started driving. He got a job at Arby’s and possibly will start looking for a new one. This particular one is not very busy. He enjoys the new school and has had many opportunities for unique classes he didn’t have in Michigan. Woodworking has been a particular favorite. Takes after his Great Grandpa Art and Grandpa Lynn! We feel very blessed!

Elizabeth, as an 8^th grader, back in Michigan, she got to go to Mackinac Island. One of the highlights of last school year. She is doing great at her new school! She is involved in so many things and has been very busy. She started taking gymnastics to get practice for cheer tryouts in the spring, has started voice lessons with her Aunt Heather in September and she is involved in the schools mixed chorus. She is hoping to audition for a different choir next year. So happy she loves to sing! She also volunteers at a horse stable once a week. She loves animals! She turned 14 this year and moved up to the Mia Maids in church and has made some really nice friends here. She also has become an excellent baker! Her favorite pastime right now is doing her nails.

In September, we went to a family campout with Chris’s siblings and their families. Such a pretty area and we had decent weather the whole time. Didn’t see much in the way of wildlife (to Karen’s relief), but the memories they made with cousins is priceless. We kayaked, canoed, hiked, ate lots of yummy camping food and enjoyed camping in the mountains. Some of the cousins got to swim, accidentally. Their canoe tipped over.